Coronary heart disease treatment

If you have coronary heart disease , there are a range of treatments your doctor might suggest to manage your condition.

Treatments for coronary heart disease range from medicines and surgery to devices that can be implanted in your body.

The right treatment for you depends on your symptoms and your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Here are just some of the treatments your doctor might recommend to treat coronary heart disease or any symptoms or conditions related to it.

Medicines

If you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol (and leading a healthy lifestyle hasn’t been enough to manage them), you may need medicines to manage your condition/s and reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Medical procedures

If you have coronary heart disease, you may need to have one of the following procedures to improve blood flow to your heart and help relieve your symptoms.

Stent

A stent is a tiny expandable metal mesh tube used to open up a blocked or narrow artery to let your blood flow more easily. A tiny balloon is placed inside the stent, which is then placed inside your artery during a procedure called ‘coronary angioplasty’. The balloon is inflated when the stent is inside your artery, expanding it. The balloon is removed but the stent remains there permanently to help keep your artery walls open.

Bypass surgery

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery aims to help restore blood flow through a blocked artery to your heart. During the surgery, a piece of a healthy blood vessel is taken from your leg, arm, or chest and attached to the blocked artery to form a ‘detour’ to allow your blood to bypass the blockage.

Implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICD)

If your heartbeat is irregular, this small device can be put into your chest and connected to your heart to monitor and regulate your heartbeat.

If you’re at risk of, or are living with, coronary heart disease, it’s important to lead a healthy lifestyle − including eating well, managing your weight and staying active − to help prevent your condition from worsening. This is on top of any medicines you may be taking or any procedure you’ve had.